-People
have been around for over 2 million years.
-The
land has greatly influenced people’s lives.
-Geography-is
the study of the Earth and of the ways people live and work
on it.
Location
-Where
is it?
-Absolute
location - exact place on Earth (only one spot).
-Relative
location – position relative to other things (ex. near the store).
Place
-Physical
and human characteristics of an area.
-Includes
land, climate, elevation, cities
Human/Environmental
Interaction
-How
humans adjust to an environment.
-How
humans modify their environment to meet their need.
Movement
-How
ideas (communication) materials (export/import) and people
emigrant/immigrant) move around to different places.
Regions
-Areas
that share a characteristic.
-Lots
of differences.
Landforms
-4
main landforms: mountains, hills, plateaus, and plains.
-elevation
– height above sea level.
-relief
– changes in height.
-mountains-highest
high relief, medium-lower moderate relief, plains-low
low relief, and plateau-medium low relief.
Surface
Changes From Inside the Earth
-Some
of the ways the land changes are because of forces inside the Earth.
-Earth
made up of following parts.
-Core - center- solid and molten rock.
-Mantle - mostly, hot solid rock,
outer part liquid.
-Crust - thin layer of rock floating
on mantle.
-Crust
made up of different tectonic plates
(TP) that move separately.
-Movement
of TP called continental drift (CD).
-Movement
of plates cause pressure which leads to volcanoes and
earthquakes.
Surface
Changes From Outside the Earth
-Erosion
is the process by which ice, wind, and water reshape the land.
-Examples:
glaciers from the Ice Ages, dust storms, and river canyons.
Landforms
in History
-Landforms
have helped to determine where people live and how they
communicate and relate to each other.
Waterways
-70%
of Earth covered by water.
-Oceans,
seas, rivers, and lakes all are waterways
-River
system – a river and all of the streams (tributaries) that flow into it.
Waterways
in History
-People
generally have lived near water for travel, drinking, and food.
Climate
and the Sun
-Climate
– the pattern of weather over a long period of time.
-The
sun has a huge effect on climate as the earth orbits sun.
-N.
and S. Poles get little direct sunlight so are colder, equator gets a lot so
warmer, this is due to tilt in Earth’s axis.
Climate
Zones
-Latitude
– distance from the Equator.
-Tropical
zone – between Tropics and Equator, hot all year.
-Temperate
zone – between Tropics and Arctic/Antarctic Circles (A/AC),
warm in summer and cool in winter.
-Polar
zone – Above/Below A/AC, cold all year round.
Climate,
Water, and Wind
-Water
can affect climate through ocean currents (streams of water in ocean).
-Wind
can affect climate
-Prevailing winds - Winds that go same
way all the time.
-Monsoons – Winds that shift
directions.
Climate
and Altitude
-Higher
the altitude the cooler the temperature
-Precipitation
- falling of moisture such as snow and rain.
-Mountains
can effect precipitation or lack of it.
Climate
in History
-Climate
helps to determine where people live.
-Natural
Resources (NR) are materials found in nature.
Kinds
of Natural Resources
-Air,
water, soil, and sunlight are essential natural resources.
-Minerals
– nonliving substances living beneath the earth’s surface.
-Minerals
become valuable when are needed and rare.
-Renewable
resources can be replaced.
-Nonrenewable
resources can not be replaced.
-Fossil
fuels (fuels made from dead plants and animals) and minerals are
nonrenewable.
Natural
Resources in History
-Location
of natural resources can also determine where people live.
-Legends
are stories passed down through generations in most cultures.
-Archaeologists
– Scientists who study the remains of past human life
-Anthropologists
– Scientists who study the origin and developments of
humans.
-
Archaeology is the study of the remains of past human life and cultures.
-
People student artifacts (things made by humans).
-
Scientists can learn a lot by looking at artifacts.
Dating
Archaeological Remains
-
Scientists divided human history naming them by the materials they used
(Stone,
Bronze, and Iron).
-
Able to date things by tree rings and Carbon-14 dating process.